MAXINE HEARD

Posted on July 22, 2009

Maxine Marie Heard, of Brook Park, MN, died on Monday, July 20, 2009. She was 85 years old.

A MEMORIAL SERVICE will be held at 2:00 P.M. on Friday, July 24th at Bethany Elim Lutheran Church in Ivanhoe, MN. Rev. Steve Rasmussen will officiate. VISITATION will be one hour prior to the service on Friday at the church.

Maxine Marie Heard was born on January 19, 1924 in Woodstock, MN to Waldemar Reiff and Mable (Purchas) Reiff-Neilsen. She was baptized, confirmed and took first communion in the Catholic Church in Woodstock, MN. Maxine grew up on a farm just south of Woodstock attending school in Slayton and Woodstock. After graduating in a class of seventeen students from high school in Lake Wilson, MN on May 29, 1941, Maxine left home traveling to Watertown, South Dakota to attend nurse’s training at the Barton School of Nursing. Three years later she graduated as a Registered Nurse.

On February 5, 1945, Maxine was married to Ray E. Heard in Pipestone, MN. While Ray served in the military during World War II, Maxine worked as a Registered Nurse at North Memorial Hospital, North Conway, NH. After the war Maxine and Ray settled on a rented farm near Lake Wilson, MN and in 1951 purchased a farm just south of Ivanhoe. Maxine continued her nursing career working as a Registered Nurse, Director of Nursing, and Nursing Home Director for Weiner Memorial Hospital in Marshall, MN and later for Divine Providence Hospital in Ivanhoe.

After retiring from nursing, Maxine was active in the VFW Auxiliary #2980 in Ivanhoe and volunteered delivering meals for the Meals on Wheels program until her health prevented her participation. She could frequently be found helping people by transporting them to medical appointments, providing free blood pressure checks and calling people to check on their well-being. She was a volunteer working at the public library in Ivanhoe and as a volunteer for Bethany Elim Lutheran Church. Maxine was an avid reader, often trading books with her friends and children. She could be found doing embroidery or crossword puzzles while watching her favorite TV programs. Maxine was very proud to be a cancer survivor.

Maxine was preceded in death by her parents, brother Richard and husband Ray.

She is survived by two sisters: Barbara Saunders and Beverly Croteau; four sons and their spouses: Richard & Connie, Ronald & Susan, Jon & Kathy, Michael & Nancy; three daughters and spouses: Sherry & Ed Novotny, Lynn & Michael Carpenter, Lu Ann and Dan Blegen; sixteen grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. The greatest loves of her life were her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

She had a tremendous love of animals, especially her dog Jack. Jack and all of us will miss this wonderful human being tremendously.

A Memorial Service was held on Friday, July 24 at Bethany Elim Lutheran Church in Ivanhoe. Rev. Steve Rasmusson officiated. Inurnment was at Ivanhoe City Cemetery.